Andersson, Maria

Hansson, Hanna

Abstract [en]

Background and Aim of study: Patients suffering from low back pain in India have the option to choose between Allopathic medicine and traditional medicine. There are no studies to be found in the major databases (Cinahl, PubMed, AMED) comparing the treatment of low back pain in physiotherapy and Ayurveda, our aim was therefore to explore how physiotherapists and Ayurvedic physicians in India work with patients suffering from low back pain. Subjects and Method: A qualitative interview study conducted in India. After transcription a qualitative content analysis was done. Four physiotherapy and four Ayurvedic interviews were included. Focus was on patient’s history, physical examination, assessment, treatment and evaluation. Results: Thirteen subcategories were formed during the analysis and from them four main categories were created: Cultural aspects, Principles and approaches behind physiotherapy and Ayurveda, Examination and Treatment. Discussion and Conclusion: This study found that physiotherapy and Ayurveda had different approaches in examination and treatment of patients with low back pain. In the examination Ayurveda focused on pulse-reading and history taking and physiotherapy focused on history taking, observation and special tests. The treatment of Ayurveda consisted of cleansing therapy to create balance in the doshas. The physiotherapy treatment was based on electrotherapy and strengthening of the lumbar region. Both the physiotherapy informants and the Ayurvedic informants had problem with the patients’ compliance. We found that the anatomy, diagnosis and history taking were similar in physiotherapy and Ayurveda.